Scissors and Spades
by mabelreid
Summary: Emily arrives at Reid's house for a poker rematch only to find something's definetely not right. Takes place after A Thousand Words REIDEMILY Very mild spoilers for the episode
1. Scissors

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_A/n My beta sent me a couple of pictures of MGG with his new haircut. Adele went nuts and this is the dubious result. It'll be at least two, maybe three chapters. _**

**_Scissors _**

The sun-filled, Sunday morning beckoned to Reid as he passed the kitchen window. The blue sky outside that window looked like summertime instead of spring. So far, spring had been pretty mild and beautiful with all the lovely cherry blossoms everywhere. He yawned, turned away from the sunny golden light, and shuffled to the coffee maker on the kitchen counter. He didn't have time that morning to stand there dreaming at the window. He had company coming.

An hour later, he'd had his first cup of coffee, a shower and a bowl of Co-Co Puffs cereal. He washed up the dishes and put them away. He headed back to his room and made the bed. The house still seemed new to him he thought. He'd lived there for six months but the novelty had yet to wear off.

He tugged up the chocolate brown sheets and tucked them in. The matching comforter lay at the foot of the bed where he'd kicked it off in the night. He picked it up off coffee colored carpet trying not to think about the dreams that had caused him to sleep so restlessly. He added the comforter to the bed and fluffed up his pillows. It took him another half an hour to tidy the small house to his satisfaction.

His visitor would be arriving any minute so he took a minute to make a nervous trip to the bathroom. He looked around as he washed his hands at the white porcelain sink with bronze fixtures. He'd cleaned it until it sparkled the night before just in case she asked to use the bathroom. He blushed at the thought. Maybe he shouldn't have asked her over for a rematch.

He shook his head and left, leaving the door to the room shut in case she walked by but didn't need to go inside. He went back to the living room, which had black leather couches and love seat, with a matching recliner. He had a huge bookcase, taking up the far wall, filled with books of all types and genres. He also had a huge flat screen television on the north wall with a modern steel entertainment center holding a DVD player, his DVR and the sound system. It all looked just right against the steel blue paint on the walls and the matching carpet.

He picked a book off the shelf at random and sat down. Only a few minutes had passed when his bell rand and he jumped as though someone had pinched him. He dropped the copy of "Dante's inferno," - in its original Italian - he had been reading. He looked around the small living area of his house. Everything looked okay to him. Would it look okay to her? He jumped when she knocked on the door.

He hurried over to answer the door, "Hi Emily!"

"Hello…" She walked in smiling at him.

"How are you?"

She pulled off the dark blue sweater she wore over a dark red tee shirt. "It's cold! I thought spring was here. The winds blowing in another storm I think." She fluffed out her hair with her hands.

"I can turn on the h-heat if you're c-cold."

She eyed him up and down and grinned. He wore a light purple dress shirt and a pair of faded blue slacks. He had left off the sweater vest and tie though. She let her eyes go back up to notice his hair and her eyes went wide. What the hell?"

"Emily?"

She'd been thinking he was doing a great job of turning on the heat all on his own, till she looked directly at his hair. "What did you do?" She demanded.

"What?"

"Your hair," She pointed at his head.

"What?" He said again, looking utterly clueless

She pulled him over to the window facing the south side of his house where sunlight streamed in though the raised blinds. "You cut your _own_ hair."

"Oh…" He said, as if she were making a big deal out of nothing. "I got tired of how long it was getting. I made an appointment to get it cut on Tuesday, but I decided I couldn't wait so I just took a pair of kitchen shears to it."

"Spencer Reid… Have you lost your mind?"

"What?"

"Have you _looked_ in the mirror?"

He went a little pink in the cheeks. "No, I don't like looking at myself in the mirror."

"That's evident!" Emily huffed out in disgust. "Where's your bathroom?"

"Emily!"

"Reid!"

"It's down the hallway." He gulped letting her drag him past his favorite black leather recliner where lay his book.

He shouldn't have let her in the house. She was supposed to be there for a rematch of their poker game and yet here she was dragging him into the bathroom because he'd chopped at his hair.

She flipped on the light in the bathroom and positioned him in front of his mirror. "Look at that mess." She gestured to his head.

"It doesn't look that bad." He squeaked.

"I know you're not blind Reid! Even you can see that _this_ is a problem. You can't go to work looking like this." She grabbed his head, tilting it this way and that. "I can fix this." She said, almost as though she were alone.

"You can't cut hair!" He squeaked again, pulling out of her grasp and covering his head with his hands.

"How do you know?" She pulled her purse off her shoulder and set in on the white counter top.

She opened the middle compartment and took out a pair of shears. She opened and closed them, swishing them as if they were part of her hand.

"You carry scissors around with you." He gulped.

"Yes… You never know when they'll come in handy."

"But when did you learn to cut hair?"

"My mother taught me. We lived in places were you couldn't always count on a hair stylist."

He just stared at her.

"What?"

"Morgan was right there's a whole other side to you."

Emily actually blushed. "Where are your chairs?" She changed the subject.

"Why?"

She tossed the scissors on the counter next to her purse, "I'm not cutting your hair with you standing up."

He went to the kitchen for one of the chairs around his table and hauled it back to the bathroom. She backed it up to the counter in front of the sink. "Sit!" She ordered him.

He sat without complaint. His backside had barely hit the seat when she said. "No… That won't work. Do you have a stepping stool?"

He didn't bother to ask because she had that look on her face she got when they were deep in a difficult case that had her complete concentration.

"There's one leaning up against the wall in the closet."

He showed her the closet just inside the front door. "Yeah… that will work." She said going back to the bathroom with small steeping stool equipped with three risers. She set it up and he sat down on the top riser before she could order him there.

"Yeah… That's perfect. Where's your shampoo and towels?"

He gaped at her, his forehead and cheeks going scarlet. "W-why do you want towels?"

"If I'm going to fix that mess…" She began in an impatient tone. "I have to wash your hair."

"No!"

"Relax Reid… I'm not proposing a shower. That's why I needed the stool. I'll wash it in the sink. No nudity involved for either of us."

"Oh…" He'd gone from scarlet to purple.

She patted his head. "It's okay. Where's the stuff?"

"The s-shampoo is in the shower and the t-towels are in the c-cabinet over there." He wouldn't look at her as she moved around the bathroom.

"What's this?" She said, laughter tinting her voice. She held his bottle of shampoo in her hand. "You use baby shampoo."

"What's wrong with that? It's gentle and healthy."

"You sound like a commercial."

"I like it. In fact, I already washed my hair this morning."

"Too bad," She smirked down at him. "It's easier to cut hair when it's wet."

He watched her eyes as she looked down at him. The dark depths left him breathless as they always did when she looked at him. Was that why he'd lost their last poker game?

"Are you awake?" She touched his shoulder and he repressed a shudder of pleasure at the contact.

"Yeah…"

"Right," She went to the cabinet, pulled a folded towel out, and let it drop open. "You have bath sheets." She asked giving him a look.

"I like to be comfortable." He shot back. "Geez… you don't like my shampoo and now you're making fun of my bath towels. I didn't ask you fix my hair." He shook his head around indignantly.

She laughed which had him narrowing his eyes at her. "I'm just teasing you."

She threw the towel around him, letting it drape him like a blanket. She reached back into her purse and found something to secure it around his neck. He watched her move around the small room. It was a good thing he'd taken the time to clean it as well as he had that morning. She found two smaller bath towels. One of them she folded up and placed at the edge of the counter, the other, she left sitting at his left side with her scissors. "Your sink isn't set up for washing hair." She looked around then back at him. "I need a drinking glass."

"There's some in the cabinet in the kitchen." He started to get up.

"Stay there and don't move. I'll find it." She ordered.

He relaxed a little when she left the room. Here he was with a bath towel thrown over him and secured around his collar with a butterfly clip Emily just happened to have in her purse. He wondered what else she had in there. It appeared to contain all kinds of wonders.

_Why don't you look inside?_

He felt his face go red. He couldn't just open her purse and rummage through it like a teenage kid looking for cash in his mother's wallet. That would be wrong!

His eyes strayed back to the purse. One hand reached out from under the towel…

"I found it!" She said coming back into the room.

He snatched his hand back as though burned by a stove. Stupid! He decided to look at the white tile floor so she wouldn't see his crimson cheeks.

"Lay back," She said.

_Oh God, if only she'd say that in my bedroom instead._

His face flamed hotter. Why was he thinking that? She didn't want him that way! He'd lost his mind in a moment of weakness that was all.

"Reid!"

"What?"

"I can't do this if you don't put your head back over the sink!"

"Oh right!"

He put his head back on the soft towels and looked up to see her face looking down over his. The light over her head made her face and dark hair glow like an angel as she smiled down at him. "You're blushing Spencer Reid. Don't worry… I know what I'm doing. This won't hurt a bit."


	2. Shampoo Fantasies

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_A/n thank you all for your wonderful feedback. Here's the next chapter._**

**_Shampoo Fantasies _**

_Don't worry… This won't hurt at all! _Right… Pain was the last thing on his mind. Her dark eyes were the only thing that ruled his universe at that moment. He wanted to get lost in her intense eyes so that he never had to think about blood and horror again.

He didn't hear the water running into the sink when Emily turned it on. He didn't hear one of his drinking glass fill with water until the warm wet liquid poured down over his head. He jerked and shut his eyes in reflex as sound suddenly returned to block out the power of her beautiful eyes.

"See… I told you it wasn't going to hurt."

He opened his eyes to see her chest right in front of his face. He blinked and closed his eyes as more warm water cascaded down over his head. He'd just keep his eyes closed so that he didn't ogle her like a teenager in heat.

_Open your eyes Spencer. Take a good close look while you can! _

_No! _

He couldn't just ogle her. It's not right. He opened his eyes as more water poured over his head and her fingers began moving this way and that. Little shivers teased the ends of the nerves in his fingers and toes. Then, her hands were gone from his head. His eyes popped open. What the… then he saw that she held his bottle of shampoo.

_Of course you didn't think she'd just get your hair wet and call it good._

He decided not to follow that line of thinking. Mostly because her hands had began to move around in his hair again.

"You're awfully quiet for a loquacious genius." She said.

He looked up to see her smiling down at him. "Oh… Well, did you know that people used to wash their hair with plain soap made from lye? As shampoo began to evolve, people would mix soap with herbs to strengthen the hair and give it fragrance. The first shampoo on the market is credited to have been made by Kasey Herbert in London. In the old days shampoo was made from rice husk and straw. The husks and straw were burned to ash which had alkaline properties. Then the ash would've been mixed with water to form a lather. Unfortunately this dried out the hair so the Indonesians applied coconut oil to their hair to re-hydrate it."

"Why did I open my mouth?" Emily said good naturedly as she massaged the lather to his hair. "I'm not surprised you know everything there is to know about shampoo."

"I read a lot," He managed to say without squeaking.

"I know!"

Her fingertips continued to massage his scalp. He closed his eyes again because talking about the origin of shampoo didn't stop the shivers running up and down his back at her touch. It wasn't just her touch that had his mouth watering, but her scent. She smelled like honey on a piece of toasted white bread slathered in butter. He could almost taste it on his tongue.

Water began to pour out into the sink again. "Close your eyes." Emily said.

Warm wet liquid poured over his head. A little trickled over his face and down his cheeks like tears. More shivers raced all over his body and through his belly. Her hand and the water were doing things to his body that made him very glad for the cover of the towel. He swallowed hard and kept his eyes tightly closed as she rinsed out the shampoo. How much longer would this take? He began to try to imagine or remember something really gross to dampen the fire in his groin.

_Think about the last case you had_. He tried pulling the last sight he'd witnessed before they took their cannibalistic perpetrator into custody. Good… Thinking about the half eaten human liver and all the blood was a very good thing at that moment.

"Are you asleep?" Emily said.

He opened his eyes to see her back. She was picking up something from the counter top. Her dark red tee shirt had pulled up over her back so that he could see her spine pushed against her skin as she bent over. The back of her jeans prevented him from seeing…

_Stop it!_

He yanked his eyes away from her back. His hands had started to tremble as he clenched the towel. The desire to reach out and touch her was nearly irresistible.

_Breathe in and out_, he thought desperately. _Concentrate on the fact that if you touch her, she will probably take you down so hard you won't know what happened. _

"Reid!"

"S-sorry I was thinking!" He squeaked.

"You think too much," She scolded. "Sit up!"

Her hands and a towel were back in his hair again rubbing in vigorously. "I fell asleep," he lied.

"I do give the best head massage on the East coast," She bragged.

"You do!"

"Yeah… Now sit still."

He stayed still, glad that he didn't have to move just yet. Her soft hands returned to his head and so did the tingles to his body.

Emily picked up her scissors and started trying to even out the mess Reid had made of his hair. Luckily, he hadn't screwed it up too badly. She just had to even out the now shorter hair style.

She began working, hoping that he didn't feel her hands tremble as she worked. She hadn't been prepared for the soft and silky texture of his wavy locks. It certainly wasn't fair that he had such beautiful puppy dog eyes and a face that looked like an angel from an old painting. Add in his silky hair and she didn't have a chance at resisting him.

_Be strong… You work together._

The problem was that she didn't want to be strong. She wanted to leave her hands in his hair forever.

_Concentrate on what you're doing._

That was good advice. She straightened her shoulders and moved around to the other side of his head to work on trimming it up to match the right side. He didn't speak to her as she worked. In fact, he hadn't said much at all. Was he mad at her for coming in and making him sit through a haircut? No, he didn't hold grudges like that.

"So how's your weekend been?" She asked.

"Hm… Oh, um I didn't really have any plans so okay I guess."

He fell silent so that the only sound was the snick of her scissors. So much for drawing him out in conversation.

"Good…" She said inanely.

_Come on Emily! You can think of something better to say._

She looked down at his hands, holding tightly to the towel. If only she could be the towel and feel the touch of his hands on her body

_Stop it!_

"We're almost done." She said as brightly and normally as she could ten minutes later.

"Oh…" His fingers let go of the towel, but his tone surprised her. It was a mixture of relief and longing she'd never heard before.

"Um… Why don't I take off the towel and you can stand up and look in the mirror.

He obliged very reluctantly pulling off the towel and tossing it to one side of the counter. She nearly giggled as he stood up. Her eyes had been on his hands, but she could see that he'd been severely affected by her hands in his hair.

She put her face into what she hoped were neutral line as he turned around. If she could just keep her eyes off his groin and on the new haircut in the mirror.

That turned out not to be a problem as she nearly gaped at the sight in front of her. She'd trimmed up his hair the best she could but it hung in choppy waves around his face in a way that was in one word. Hot!

"I like it!" He finally said, going very pink in the cheeks. "You did a great job."

"It looks good on you." She breathed.

"Thank you," He said.

"You're welcome… Um, I guess I should clean up a little."

"Don't worry!" He said hastily. "I um need to use the bathroom." He'd gone absolutely crimson.

"Oh right…" She started to turn away from the mirror when she caught a look at her blouse. She'd managed to splash water all over the front and get some shampoo and hair stuck to the arms. How had that happened?

"I made a bit of a mess or myself." She admitted.

He looked at her shirt, then at the floor. "Oh right… Um well, I could put it in the washer if you want."

"No…" She looked around because her face had got very hot. "Can I borrow this?" She said pointing to a very old grey tee shirt that hung on the back of the door with a pair of blue and white plaid sleep pants. "Just till it's dry."

"Oh uh... sure you can. My room is down the hall if you want to change."

"Why don't I just take the stool back where I found it?" She picked it and the tee shirt up and headed out of the bathroom as fast as she could.

He sagged back against the counter top. She apparently hadn't noticed how turned on her washing and cutting his hair had made him. Another few minutes and he would've messed up his pants, or he would have grabbed her and tried to take her right there on the floor of the bathroom.

_Yeah… that's a good idea. She'd kick your sorry ass and that would take care of your hard on real fast. _

The problem remained that he had an aching erection that needed tending to, or things were going to get uncomfortable fast. He looked around and spied her purse. All thoughts of an amorous nature were suddenly sucked out of his head. He could take a quick look inside and no one would be the wiser.

Emily sagged against the bathroom door for a minute. It had been a close thing, seeing his new sexy cut and not pushing him down on the floor. The urge to have her way with him had almost overcome her good sense.

_Who cares about good sense? He's H. O. T._

She shook her head and went to find his bedroom after putting the stool back in its place. She found his room at the other end of the house. It looked much different than she'd imagined it.

_What did you think it would be?_

Well… there weren't any Star Trek posters on the walls or a miniature model of the Enterprise around anywhere. His bed was made which struck her as odd for some reason.

His messenger bag sat on a spindle back chair across from what she assumed was a closet door. She looked at it for a long time. She'd always wondered what he carried around in that thing. He was in the bathroom and probably wouldn't come out till he'd got his 'problem' under control so she had a minute.

_You can't look in there. It would be a violation of privacy. _

Still her feet led her over to his bag_. It would be just a quick look, _she thought as she lifted up the strap that held the center section together. _Just a quick look… What could it harm? _


	3. Card Shark

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**_A/n hey all... Here's the next chapter. Thank you all for your wonderful feedback. There's one more chapter coming up soon._**

**_Card Shark_**

Emily lifted the strap on Reid's messenger bag. She didn't realize she was licking her lips as she began to open his bag as carefully as she could. Her hands trembled as she tried to ignore the voice in her head telling her not to invade his privacy. After all, if he wanted her to know the contents he would have just told her. He didn't hold back most of the time. She reached inside and… A horn from a car suddenly honked long and loud right outside the window. She jerked back, stumbled and nearly fell over.

Her heart raced so fast she lost the ability to breath for a second. At last, everything started up again and she stood staring at the window with her legs shaking. She looked back at the bag and shook her head. The scare had cleared her head. She couldn't just spy on him like that. It wasn't right.

She turned her back on the bag, pulled off her shirt and put on the tee shirt she'd burrowed from him. She had to get out of that room before the temptation to betray her friend overwhelmed her good sense again. She gave the room one last long look around and fled.

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Reid stared at Emily's purse. It was black, simple and it pulled him in like the moon pulled on the tides. He looked up at the door as if expecting Emily to barge in.

_She's not going to barge in without knocking. Stop stalling and have a look. _

The voice in his head that encouraged bad behavior won out against his good sense for once in his life. The curiosity was killing him, just as it had the proverbial cat. He edged to the counter top. Just a quick look and she wouldn't be the wiser. He had to do it in the name of psychological research. Every woman he knew seemed to keep the contents of their purse secret as if they were hiding the answer to the meaning of life inside. What could possibly be so important?

His hand reached out. His fingers trembled a bit as they grasped the zipper and began to pull it. A sudden knocking on the bathroom door had him yanking back his hand as if a snake were about to bite him.

"Are you okay in there?" Emily said.

"Um… Yeah… I'll be out in a minute."

"Good because I'm looking forward to beating your butt at poker again."

_Why did her voice sound so strange? _

_Probably because she noticed your 'interest!'_

His face flamed. He should have shown more control_. _He bet that had Morgan been in his place, he wouldn't have let a beautiful colleague see his arousal.

_No, he would have made his move so that it wouldn't have mattered. _

It didn't matter anymore. His biggest need was the toilet now that the scare had dampened down the fire in his gut for Emily. Still… it wasn't forgotten. He hoped he'd be able to face her long enough to get through the poker game.

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Emily sat at the kitchen table, looking around the room when Reid walked in. He barely looked at her as he went to a one of the drawers under the counter tops. Something had changed dramatically in his attitude. She could feel it coming off him like steam off a hot springs.

Speaking of hot, seeing him outside the bathroom and in the natural light streaming into the room from the kitchen window, he looked even better with his new haircut. Her heart rate began to move up again. Thank God, he couldn't see the effect he had on her like she could see in him. Perhaps she should just leave before things got out of hand.

"Emily…"

She stopped staring at his hair to see he'd pulled a deck of card out of the drawer. His stance had changed again as if he'd come to some difficult decision.

"Hmm…"

"Are you ready for our game?" He asked with the same mischievous attitude he'd had on the plane.

He smirked at her and her hands trembled. This was looking like a bad idea because now she was completely distracted by his eyes, the hair and that smirk.

"You're on!"

"Winner takes all?" He asked.

She went hot and then cold at his tone. Just what did he mean by that? "That depends on the prize Dr. Reid."

"I'm sensing a _little _fear in your voice." He teased.

She stared… She could've sworn he was as uncomfortable as she was when he'd come out of the bathroom. Perhaps she'd just been projecting.

"I have no fear!" She countered. "Bring it on smart man."

He shuffled the cards, making them fly through his hands as though he'd been born in a casino. _Really, he was born in Las Vegas… Remember?_

"Stop showing off and deal the cards," She said as he cut them, moving them fluidly with his fingers. She had to rip her eyes away from those long, slender digits because they were doing odd and wonderful things to her stomach and heart.

"You sound stressed Prentiss."

"You're going to be stressed if you don't deal." She promised him.

He smirked again. "Okay… Don't freak."

"I'm not freaking." She lied, looking down at her hands to make sure they weren't trembling.

He dealt the hand and she picked up her cards. She wanted to groan aloud. He couldn't have dealt her a worse hand if he'd tried. In fact… She looked up and narrowed her eyes his way. He looked way too angelic for her taste.

"Problem?" He asked innocently.

"No!"

"No need to growl. It's not very attractive."

"That's funny… I need four cards."

His eyebrows went into his new bangs. "Are you sure?"

"Give me the cards!"

"Okay! You asked for it. " He dealt out four cards as she watched him very carefully.

_Are you kidding? He's a magician. He could cheat and you'd never know._

"I only need one card!" He bragged peeling it off the deck with a grace that had her heart rate up again.

She looked down at the four new cards in her hand and found… Nothing… She didn't have a thing. This wasn't going to be pretty. She could feel it in her bones.

"Show me." He asked.

"You first."

He grinned. "Straight in spades," He laid them out with a glee that made her want to smack him.

It didn't change the fact that five cards in order from ace to five were lying right in front of her. "Okay… You beat me. We're all even now." She said laying down her lousy had of two three, a seven, a nine and a king.

"I don't think so." He reminded her.

"So what do you want?"

His confident manner suddenly disappeared and he sank back in his chair staring at her as though he didn't know what to do next. She watched him intently without speaking.

He stood up abruptly left his chair to walk around her side of the table. Her eyes rose to meet his gaze as he leaned against the edge of the table. His eyes caught her and trapped her in their depths. Something swam inside them that tore the breath out of her lungs. He stared at her for long minutes as she tried to draw in breath and let it go again. Heat radiated off his body reaching out for her as though his arms were trying to embrace her but he didn't move. He was as still as a stone statue.

"Reid?"

He unfolded his arms and let them fall slowly to his sides. "Yes?" He asked, looking very confused.

"What are you thinking?" Her whole body shook with an anticipation she couldn't explain.

He leaned forward very slowly, bringing his hands up to rest on his knees as he closed the distance between them. His mouth moved past her lips and came to rest on her cheek. "Thanks for the game." He whispered in her ear.

She couldn't make her mouth say the things she wanted to say, or her hands to reach out and touch him. He moved back out of her reach to the other side of the table and back to his chair.

"You didn't say what you wanted as your prize." She finally asked.

He put his folded hands on top of his winning cards as if afraid they might fly away. "I want ten minutes of your time outside of blood, horror, and gore." He said.

"We've already spent more than an hour together."

"That was just a rematch because I lost our last game on the plane. I want something more than that."

"Well okay magic man… Follow me!"

She moved out of her chair and left the room. She didn't wait to see if he'd follow her into the living room. She sat down on the leather, not hearing the squeak of the leather under her legs. He sat next to her and folded her into his arms.

"Well this is nice…" She purred.

"Yeah."

"So you set up that win just so you could sit here with me."

"I had to do something. You don't know how hard it's been to stay away from you since the first time I saw you."

"Pretty drastic and you cheated."

"I didn't cheat. I just manipulated the odds a bit."

"Whatever!"

"Doesn't matter because I won." He reminded her.

"I know… You can stop crowing like a rooster."

"So what happens now?" He pushed a lock of her hair away from her face.

"I don't know… I suppose we'll have to talk about it."

"Why not now?"

She looked at her watch. "I have to go. I wasn't expecting any of this today. I promised I'd have dinner with my mother. She's trying to make things up to me. I guess I need to let her try. I love her." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah… My dad's called me a few times in the last year."

She moved out of his arms so she could look at him right in the eyes. "How do you feel about that?"

"I don't know yet. He left me alone with a mentally unstable mother. I don't know if I can get past it."

"We're both messed up." Emily said tracing a finger over his bare arm.

"No… I'm screwed up, you're wonderful."

She laughed, "I think that same thing, only in reverse."

"No! You're perfect in everyway."

"Can we argue about this at another time? I really do have to go."

"Alright!" He kissed her again, and again on the cheek.

"I'll call you when I'm home." She promised.

"I'll be waiting."


	4. Storm Clouds

**_Disclaimer: see my profile_**

**_A/n Here's the last chapter. Thank you all for your kind support. It's been lots of fun._**

**_Storm Clouds _**

The wind had kicked up very hard by the time Emily left Reid's little house. Its cold breath tried to push her along as she made her way to the car. Overhead, grey and black clouds had started to gather as the temperatures dropped. The sunny day, it seemed, had taken a backseat to a brewing storm.

Her dark blue sweater flapped around her like a bat's wings as she fought to keep her footing and her hair out of her eyes. Fortunately, the walk to her car wasn't long. She unlocked the door and climbed inside. The interior was as cold as the outside and she began to shiver as her finger fumbled with the key in the ignition.

Finally, the car roared to life. She turned on the heat, turning it up as high as it would go. She sat there for a minute looking at Reid's ancient Volvo before backing carefully out into sleepy little street. She only passed on other car in the three blocks it took to get to the main street that would take her back to DC.

She realized that she had been holding her breath. She drew in a gulp of air to her taxed lungs and sighed. She'd run away from him. She didn't have a dinner appointment with her mother. The lie was just an excuse to get away from beautiful dark eyes that saw things other people routinely missed. It wasn't just the eyes though, she thought as she rolled to a stop at a red light. He had the whole package and so she ran.

Another honking horn behind her brought her snapping out of thinking about his fingers and the way they touched her. She pulled off the road into the parking lot at a coffee shop. If she could just stop shaking at the memory of his lips touching her cheek. She reached up and touched said cheek, caressing it like a girl with her first crush. If he'd kissed her on the lips… It was better not to think along those lines.

A drop of rain splattered on the windshield of her car. She watched it slide slowly down as another joined it and then another. She didn't try to turn off the engine as the car sat idling while people hurried past to get in out of the rain.

She shouldn't have run away. After all, what was there to fear except losing herself in another person? Perhaps the right one had been in front of her all along. She closed her eyes and breathed in. She could still smell him inside the car as though he were with her. The unique scent that made him Reid had followed her in her flight from the possibility of her one great love.

She looked up at her face in the rearview mirror angling it to try to see something in her eyes that could tell her why she'd decided to fun away. As she looked in the mirror, she saw the collar of the shirt she wore. She'd forgotten to give Reid back his old gray shirt. How could she have forgotten to give back the shirt?

_You're the hotshot profiler. You tell me!_

She ignored the voice in her head that spoke of Freudian slips and intentional stealing. Her hands pulled up the tail of the tee shirt and brought it to her face. His scent washed over her, making her hands shake again. All she could see in her mind or think of was the disappointment on his face when she left. It was like kicking a puppy then leaving it huddled and broken in the rain.

Well… there was nothing left to do then. She put the car in gear and backed out of her parking place.

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Reid went back to the kitchen after sitting in his easy chair trying to read for the past twenty minutes. He paced in front of the window watching the sky go from bright blue to grayish white as rain began to fall. Huge drops fell onto the glass, one after the other as he paced the small room. Excitement and disbelief at his boldness had his heart pounding hard enough to leave him a bit dizzy. He'd actually kissed her cheek. He'd touched his lips with a finger. He could still feel the softness of her skin on his mouth.

He began pacing again, trying to imagine what might come next for them. They had to talk, but he supposed that could wait. It had all come about so fast he was a bit dazed. He started to make another turn, and stopped dead in front of a chair that had her red tee shirt slung over the back to dry. She'd left it there and he hadn't noticed. Why hadn't she realized she still wore his shirt? He picked up her shirt and brought it up to his face. Her scent enveloped all of his senses like a warm blanket on a freezing winter day. Tingles began to ripple down his spine as he breathed in the same smell that had overwhelmed him when she'd washed his hair. He closed his eyes and inhaled more deeply… If he couldn't have her there with him, he'd have to make do with this shirt.

He stood there until the storm had fully broken over the house and the neighborhood. The rain hammered on the windows as someone hammered at his door. The sound of knocking and a voice finally broke through the haze of desire that bound the shirt to his face. He jerked, tossed the red tee shirt aside and went to the door.

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She stood, the rain soaking through her sweater and shirt to her skin. She shivered as she knocked on his door. He didn't open… Perhaps he was angry. "Reid!" She shouted over the thundering rain.

He opened the door, confusion and something else warring in his eyes. "Emily…"

She didn't answer the clear question in his eyes. If he were allowed to speak, or if she spoke, the opportunity would pass. It was time to act without thinking, because thinking was highly overrated as she tried to tell Reid, time and again.

He had no chance to respond as she walked in out of the cold rain and grabbed him by the shoulders. Her mouth found his lips. He tried pulling away from her, but she held on knowing that he'd just start talking and she didn't want to talk anymore. She slid her arms up to his neck, pulling him close enough to feel the excitement in him she'd seen just an hour ago.

Her hands scrabbled across his neck and up into his hair. The silky strands fired her blood so hot she shoved against him while trying to get him out of his purple shirt. He stumbled and crashed into the end table. They careened across the hall to the opposite wall. She had to release her hold on his mouth to breathe. He stood there, his new hair cut mussed as he breathed in and out like they'd been running instead of kissing each other like a couple of love struck teenagers.

"Emily…" He gasped. "I thought -"

"Don't say it!" She ordered. Her face inches from his pink face.

His chest heaved against hers, his arousal hard against her belly as they stared at each other. He leaned in and kissed her long and slow, taking the hot edge off the passion flaming in her gut. She decided she didn't like slowing down. She pushed him down onto the carpeted floor with a thump. He gazed up at her with startled surprise and a little fear in his chocolate eyes

"Don't worry I'll be gentle." She grinned down at him.

He reared up, surprising her so that she nearly fell off him. "Oh no you don't…" She pushed him back. "I like the top!"

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"I thought you had plans." He said when he could talk.

"I lied," She kissed his chest.

"You lied?"

"Yep!"

It was getting very dark outside as the storm raged over their heads. The afternoon was turning into premature night, but somehow it was soothing to him as he lazily ran his hand up and down her back.

"Why?"

"I was scared."

He stopped rubbing her back. "Why?" He asked again, incapable of anything other the monosyllabic questions for the moment.

"Because I finally saw what's been standing in front of me all this time. The perfect guy. It terrified me."

"Oh…"

"Are you going to use bigger words, because you're freaking me out just a little?

He laughed and went back to stroking her back with his long fingers. They really should get up off the floor and go to his room, but he couldn't make himself move and destroy a wonderful contented feeling.

"Sorry… I'm having trouble thinking right now. You king of scrambled my brains just a little."

"Oh!"

"Now who's monosyllabic?"

"And he's back," She enthused, kissing his Adams Apple.

"I like that," He purred.

"Do you?"

"Very much!"

"We should talk about this." Emily said.

"Later... I want to stay this way forever."

"What do you say we get up off this floor and get something to eat? I'm starving."

"Do we have to?" He heard the whine in his voice and winced.

"Yes…" She slapped his chest lightly. "Get up lazy bones."

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Reid watched Emily making grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. She wore his old, ratty brown bathrobe that looked a lot better on her then it did on him.

"Come over here." He said

"I'm busy Reid."

"Call me Spencer."

She rolled her eyes at him. "I'm busy over here so stop looking at me like that."

"Please!"

"The eyes won't work this time."

"Emily!"

She turned her back on him. "I said I'm hungry, Spencer!"

He grinned at her back. Stronger measures were required it would seem. He stood up and walked over as quietly as he could. He put his hands on her waist and kissed her neck. She jumped. "Watch it!"

"Come to bed." He whispered.

"No…" She relaxed back into his arms as he nuzzled her neck.

"_Please_… I_ need _you."

She turned around in his arms and plastered her body to him. Her tongue was exploring his mouth when his cell phone rang.

"Damn it!"

"Don't answer that phone or I'll kill you," She warned heedless of the soup heating on the stove and the sandwiches that were getting just a little to brown in the pan.

"It's JJ's ring tone. She's probably got a case."

Emily sighed and let him go. "Damn it!"

"That's what I said." He reminded her.

"I'll get dressed." She went to the stove and turned off the heat under the food.

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The jet, made its way back to Quantico after a week in Montana. Everyone slept except for Reid who read and Emily who sat across from him playing solitaire. She kept looking up at him, unable to keep her eyes to herself. The flight seemed like it was twice as long as it should have been.

As always Reid tuned out everything around him, Emily noticed. His long fingers moved up and down the page with a speed that never failed to grab her attention. He suddenly put the book down on the table and looked over at her with eyes that adored only her face.

"Want to play cards Emily?" He said as though everyone was listening and it was a totally innocent question.

She felt a smile cross her face for the first time in days. "Sure… What's the stakes?"

He waggled his eyebrows at her. "The winner gets to be on top!"

She began collecting cards. "Then you better have your game on, because_ I_ play to win!"

THE END


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